So now we are picking on the dead

July 10, 2015

Someone drives by a graveyard, sees a Confederate flag flying over the graves of dead soldiers and is offended by the sight.

It continues to amaze me how "mean-spirited" people can be. These men, whether they were forced into service or sincerely believed in their cause, served under a flag and lost their lives. These men were not foreigners. They were American fathers, sons, brothers, cousins with different opinions about how we should live. Today we are expected to tolerate, even forgive, the different opinions of others, yet we feel so justified in condemning those of 100 years ago.

The flag does not send a message of hatred and pride nor glorify the cause except in the minds of those who already have that message engraved on their minds. The flag is a symbol of a conquered group and a lost cause and the louder the demand for that flag to be brought down, the more flags will appear-the usual American reaction to unreasonable demands.

In recent years, we have grown a large group of "poor winners" who can't accept winning without continuing to pick at the losers-even those dead for over 100 years. They hold on to old grudges and hates. Surely something more useful could be done with that energy. May I suggest that the individual driving by the cemetery simply switch your gaze to the speedometer and insure you are complying with the 25 mph speed limit. Then you will miss the sight of that offensive scene.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if our Shepherdstown leaders permit out-of-towners, who like to enjoy the town's charms but criticize, threaten and tell us what to do at the same time, convince them to remove that flag.